‘Pretended nationalism’ behind case vs Xi: Philippine Palace

MANILA, Dec 8, 2019, PhilStar. By insisting on pursuing their case of crime against humanity against Chinese President Xi Jinping before the International Criminal Court (ICC), two former officials were apparently trying to advance their “pretended nationalism” for media mileage, Malacañang said yesterday, The Philippine Star reported.

“Apparently wanting to still milk the issue for media mileage to advance their pretended nationalism, they are still bent on pursuing their wrong tack despite the rejection of their complaint,” presidential spokesman and chief presidential legal adviser Salvador Panelo said yesterday.

He was referring to former foreign affairs chief Albert del Rosario and former ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

Panelo maintained the ICC dismissal “is consistent with our previous stand that the filing of the complaint is a futile exercise.”

He reiterated that ICC has no jurisdiction over China. “Neither does it have jurisdiction over the Philippines, given that the Rome Statute failed to comply with the publication requirement in accordance with due process under our Constitution,” Panelo said.

President Duterte and his legal team have withdrawn membership from the ICC, saying Manila’s ratification of the Rome Statute was void because it did not undergo publication.

“In resolving the conflict of the South China Sea, the President has chosen an effective mode accepted under international law of directly engaging the People’s Republic of China in bilateral negotiations to resolve the dispute in a peaceful, expedient and efficacious manner,” Panelo said.

In contrast, Panelo said the “Morales-Del Rosario tandem resorted to an ineffective process, evidently for its propaganda value.”

The Palace issued the statement two days after the ICC announced it could not act on Del Rosario’s and Morales’ communication due to lack of territorial and personal jurisdiction.